What is The Cheapest Way to Make Product Labels?

The cheapest way to make product labels is to print them yourself. While your business is small, you can use labels on a standard printer. But as your business grows, you’ll need its appearance to grow along with it. That requires a faster, specialized label printer.

Review the ways to make product labels to find the cheapest option for you based on your existing equipment and resources.

The Cheapest Ways to Make Product Labels Using Tools You Already Have

Each business owner has differing resources available to them when they start their business. Whether it’s a friend’s or neighbor’s printer that they loan you to get started or the laptop you bought for college. Here’s a look at how to use the tools and resources you have to design and print labels at home for your growing business.

1. Understanding Product Label Requirements

Various products have differing requirements for what must go on the label. We’ve covered a few of these topics to support your business and make designing your product labels easier.

• What should hand sanitizer labels include?
• What are the requirements for a food label?
• Best barcode label printer for efficient inventory management
• The many use cases for transparent labels

While there is information available to guide you in knowing what must go on your product label, if you work in a complex business, such as food or medicine, you should meet with an attorney to review your product labels to ensure compliance. A lawsuit or regulatory fines could put you out of business quickly and you’ll wish you’d invested a bit more into your product label process.

And while you want your labels to be distinctive and stand out on the shelf, readability is the most important thing to keep in mind as you design your labels.

2. Review Whether You Have an Inkjet or Laser Printer

Before you design your product labels, review whether you have an inkjet or laser printer. Here’s a look at what each of these printers is best for to guide you in the design you select for your product labels.

Laser

• Fast printing
• Dry ink immediately
• Fewer toner cartridge changes required
• Can print monochromatic or colored labels
• Crisp text, even with small fonts
• Can use white toner to print on black labels
• Less cost to operate
• Prints waterproof labels
• Not great at printing images
• More expensive upfront cost
• Toner cartridges are pricey to replace

Inkjet

• Photo-quality images
• Less expensive to purchase upfront
• Colors are vivid
• Can find printers that print up to six different colors
• Easy to use
• Print on matte, semi-gloss, or glossy stock
• Ink cartridges are expensive and changed frequently
• Much slower print speed
• Requires time for labels to dry before using

The key is that you design a product label that fits with the strengths of the printer you already have. While that might mean a simpler label for now, it will help you save money to purchase a true label maker that better meets your needs as your company grows. Ultimately, you want your product labels to look great based on the assets you have available to you.

3. DIY Product Label Design

Working with a designer can get expensive. Instead, use these programs to create attractive product labels to eliminate this expense.

Windows Operating System: Windows Paint

One of the expenses involved in making product labels is the design software. Using Paint, you can design your labels for no added expense. Here’s how to use this free asset that comes standard on all Windows computers.

When formatting the Paint file, ensure that the dimensions match that of your product labels. To start, you might just use your logo for the product label, though some products have highly regulated rules for what you must put on your packaging.

Windows Operating System: Publisher

Publisher has a template for grape jelly under the labels category. While you might not have any plans to expand your business into jelly, you can use this template as a starting point for any type of product label. 

Customize the content within the label and purchase 8.5×11-inch sheets of labels that fit the size so you can print them at home.

Canva

While there is a more advanced paid version of Canva with more templates and access to assets, such as images, icons, and a wider variety of templates, you can likely get started without paying for the service.

Select a template that gets you started. Then add text boxes and images to the design to match your product branding. Ensure that you include all required information based on regulations.

4. Choose an Appropriate Label Size

You don’t want your product label to cover the entire outside of your product packaging. But you also don’t want it to look so small that it’s awkward. Test out a few sizes to see what looks best based on your packaging.

Also, consider the shape of your product. Ensure that the label you choose won’t bunch or wrinkle once applied to the product.

5. Run a Few Label Tests

Before you print a large stock of product labels, run a few tests to make sure you have everything formatted correctly. Place the test labels on a few products to ensure you like the size and placement of the labels.

Make adjustments to your design as needed. Ask a friend or family member to evaluate your labels for an unbiased opinion. Try placing the product a few feet away to see how readable the content is and whether it is eye-catching at that distance.

6. Use a Local Print Shop if You Don’t Have a Printer

Small businesses looking to avoid hefty upfront costs and with no printer available to them can use a local print shop for initial product labels. While using a third party to print labels will be more expensive per label than printing them yourself, it will give you time to save money to purchase a printer so you don’t use part of a business loan or personal finances to fund the upfront cost.

Calculate how many products you need to sell to save enough to purchase a printer and make a plan for how to grow your business to that point to invest in a label printer.

7. Calculate Your Per-label Cost

Printing product labels at home has some expenses that are challenging to factor in, including your time designing, printing, and attaching the labels. But some clear costs include:

• Labels (buy in bulk as much as possible to manage the expense)
• Ink/toner cartridges (average out the number of labels you can print with each cartridge and divide to calculate this expense)
• Design software programs
• Upfront cost of printer
• Printer maintenance
• Printer lifecycle

As your business grows, you won’t have as much time to wait around for a standard printer to print off your labels and might find that investing in a true product label printer is valuable.

Take this time of printing cheap labels at home to build up savings you can put toward a more advanced label printing solution that will elevate your products and make you stand out.

If you aren’t sure of the best product label printer for your business, reach out to the DuraFast Label Company. Our team will help pair you with ideal equipment based on your needs and how you want your product to look.

Further reading:

• Creating Perfect Product Labels – 3 Basic Rules
• Are Wash-Off Materials the Next Trend for Product Labels?
• Laser vs. Inkjet Printers: Which Option is Better?
• Promotion: Save Big on the Epson TM-C3500 Inkjet Printer